Quilt by Credit Card

Okay, okay, I finally get what my quilting friends have known all these years: You quilt by credit card!

Leisa, the longarm quilter took 3 of my quilt tops, along with the backing fabrics I'd selected and turned the tops into beautiful quilts. I cannot wait to put the binding on and have them completely finished.

This first one is a bento box style quilt I started in a Jean Ann Wright workshop using a jelly roll and Jean's special ruler. Mom helped me select the border fabrics.

I cannot remember if I found the backing fabric at a garage sale or the local Goodwill store.

Next is a pattern and technique I learned in a Holice Turnbow class the same day as Jean Ann's class. This one is made of Moda's Brannock (Mom) & Patek fabric.

 Here is detail of the feathers Leisa quilted. I am thinking of binding it the black version of the border fabric. Yes, I said black. Just wait; you'll see. Unless, that is, Mom puts the kabosh on the idea.

 Mom sent me the delicious backing fabric (Minnick & Simpson).

The third quilt Leisa quilted for me shall remain unseen until the 5 year old recipient (or her mother) gets to see it.

I am off to the 4th day of quilt camp; I am working on another special gift quilt.

Happy Quilting Ya'll

(This is Georgia after all.)

Up, Down, All Around

The Hexagon Hip Hop quilt with Brannock & Patek's Audra's Iris Garden  (Moda) is a finished quilt top.

I struggled with the fancy border, so it doesn't exactly match the pattern in Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott, but that's what quilters do: improvise!(I like it well enough for all the pouting I did about my mistakes.) I was having a snit-fit over sewing, unsewing and screwing up when Joey knocked over my "design wall" and ironing board. Inspiration hit me as I was cleaning up the mess: unstitch the ends of the remaining two borders and add more triangle units and recut the corner pieces. Fine!

The board Joey knocked over is a heavy duty ironing board I found at an estate sale. A young man carried it to the car for me and asked "does it work?" Well heck. I never thought an ironing board wouldn't work, but I answered I would find out when I got home. Driving away I thought why wait, so I pulled over into a cul-de-sac, pulled the board out of the car and set it up. Good deal; works fine. Wait. OMG, I can not fold it back up! I jiggled, felt around, turned it over, banged on it; I was about to have a panic attack thinking I would just have to leave it there in the middle of the cul-de-sac when whomp! Down it went, and I didn't even know what I'd done. (How freaking embarrassing.)

Here's Joey down on the floor on the quilt top seeing if I resolved the problems I was having; it passed his inspection.

Joey went up on the top shelf to snooze on the fusible stuff I need to cut for the bag.

Looks peaceful. I hate to wake him up and move him.

'Cause now he is down on my cutting table thinking he'll give a hand at cutting out. Some help he is, too. I had to put him out in the hall and close the door so I could work.

While I was working and moving things around in the sewing room, I discovered one of my Goodwill purchases will make a wonderful back to my Bento Box quilt. (I love when that happens!)

I got all the outer and inner parts of the bag cut when I noticed it was 2:45 a.m. I lose track of time when I play in my sewing room.

Joe knew it was time to go to bed. I found him down on the floor in the cat crate all curled up on an old quilt. (The cat crate was out because I took Kitten in to the vet to have her eye looked at; I was not sure if it was infected or not, but all is well. I certainly don't want to take chances with the only eye she has!)